The season is over for the Parkland Rangers.

The U18 squad fell in three straight games to the league-leading Brandon Wheat Kings in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League semifinals.

The Rangers got off to a great start in game two, Friday in Dauphin, opening the scoring just 27 seconds in. By the time the first period was over, Parkland held a 3-0 lead.

The Wheat Kings showed why they were the best team in the league all season, though, erasing that deficit and carrying a 4-3 lead into the third period where they added three more to skate away with a 7-3 win.

Brandon sealed the series victory with a 7-0 win, Sunday in Brandon.

Rangers coach Tyler Carefoot said in game two, his team wanted to give Brandon a taste of how they played against Yellowhead in the quarterfinals.

“And I thought in that first period we did that and more. I thought we were fast. I thought we had lots of energy. I thought we were physical. To put three up on them after one, we were pretty excited,” he said. “But at the same time, we reminded the fellas that their coach was likely peeling the paint. So we knew they were going to come out just as hungry.”

Two of Brandon’s goals in the second period came shorthanded, which Carefoot said deflated the Rangers.

“They’re just a prolific team. Any turnover is arguably a first-class scoring opportunity, so you can’t turn over the puck as much as we did in those three games,” he added.

Being swept in the semifinals, Carefoot said, does not take away what the Rangers accomplished over the course of the season.

“This is the group of kids that put pride back into the jersey. So for that, I’m very proud of them,” he said.

The Rangers came within three wins of playing for a league championship, something no one could have foreseen at the start of the season.

“As the season went on, you recognize that we do have a pretty good group here and our goal changed. We thought at one point we wanted to finish in the top four and we were very close to that,” Carefoot said, adding Parkland beat every team with the exception of the Eastman Selects. “But in saying that, we also laid a few eggs. But that’s just how seasons go. I can’t say enough about the fellas, because this is the group that make players want to be Parkland Rangers and I’m very proud of that.”

Seven players are graduating from the program. Marco Bodnarski, Matthew Munro, Cohen Smigelsky, Rylan Gibbs, Jayce Legaarden, Parker Boguski and Brenden Birch-Hayden all saw their U18 careers come to an end.

“I think all of them are going to have an opportunity to play junior. Whether they’re impact players right off the start time will tell. But I think all of them are going to be given every opportunity to play at the next level,” Carefoot said. “They’re all just great individuals. Some of them I’ve coached for a long time. (Sunday) was a little emotional. It’s the last time that I’m going to be coaching these guys and I’ve coached against the guys from Swan for many years. We were all a little emotional after the loss (Sunday), but we just reminded them that they’re the reason that young guys want to be Parkland Rangers. So for that, they’ve got to keep their heads up.”

Dauphin minor baseball is looking for a new president after Jodie Romanow recently stepped down.

Romanow served as president of the Dauphin Minor Baseball Association (DMBA) for 6-1/2 years. With no children involved in baseball anymore, she decided to step down, but feels a lot was accomplished during her time with the organization.

“When we took over, we were in quite a financial state. Not a good financial state. Through fund-raising, sponsorship,we were able to get new jerseys, new equipment. We have training equipment that no other baseball organization has in the Parkland,” she said.

The dugouts were renovated and fixed up to the standard she feels they should be in order to host provincial tournaments.

“So I feel like this past 6-1/2 years and the board members that have come out to help out, we’ve accomplished a lot,” she said.

Romanow feels the skill level of the players has improved and the overall numbers have increased, as well.

“Before COVID, we had grown our organization to well over the player numbers we had ever had before. We were more successful at regionals. We had more teams going to represent at provincials than we’d had in a long time,” she said. “So I think in investing in early clinics and coach recruitment and coach certification has really paid off. We were going strong before COVID hit.”

Every season, Romanow would set certain goals she wanted to achieve and would do whatever it took to set the bar and make it by season’s end.

“I’m going to definitely miss working with the coaches and helping out the organization as it grows. I take pleasure in watching the kids succeed and win a spot to provincials. That’s what I’m really going to miss,” she said.

A new board has been established for this season, but a replacement for Romanow has yet to be named.

Joining the board for this season are Katie Durston, Rachelle Schau, Ryan Powe, Holly Slobodzian-Plustwa, Chris Lobert, Bill Busby, Regan Lemieux and Shannon Genaille.

“We officially don’t have a president. Out of everybody that has stepped up, everybody has taken their job titles and portfolios, but feel that the position of president might be a bit too much,” Romanow said. “But with the support of other board members, if there is anybody out there that would feel that they are capable of the position to absolutely come out and let us know and we’ll gladly take on a couple more board members.”

There are two positions that have yet to be filled. Anyone interested in joining the board can contact DMBA at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Dauphin Kings drew first blood in their best-of-seven quarterfinal series with the Swan Valley Stampeders, scoring a 5-1 win in game one, Saturday in Dauphin.

After taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, the Kings broke the game open with three in the second. Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley knew the Stampeders would be tough and come at the Kings hard.

“I thought our speed was really good right off the hop. We had energy. The guys were ready to play. We had a long week of practice and we had gone though just about everything,” he said.

The biggest thing for the Kings, he said, is to play with speed and play fast and they will get some opportunities.

“I thought (Jayden) Jubenvill was outstanding tonight. I thought he was one of our best guys. I thought he was really good,” Hedley said. “I thought Cherry (goalie Carson Cherepak) was great. Everybody had a good game. Our penalty killing was outstanding.”

Even as the Kings padded their lead, the game was tight checking.

“And that’s the way it’s going to be. It doesn’t matter what the points are in the regular season. They’ve got eight 20-year-olds on that team that this is their last shot at it. So you know they’re going to bring intensity. You know they’re going to be urgent. You know they’re never going to quit,” Hedley said. “If we want something, we’ve got to take it. And tonight, we did a good job of finishing and kept them off the scoresheet for a while.”

The Kings did get a little nonchalant on a power play early in the third, which resulted in a shorthanded goal for the Stampeders, but that was all the offence they could muster.

Depth scoring is an important factor in the playoffs and the Kings got that in game one. Four of Dauphin’s five goals came from the blueline with Colby Jaquet scoring twice, including an empty netter, while Nolan Wickham and Owen Wareham also scored. Garrett Hrechka was the only forward to bend the twine.

“We win 5-1 and our top line never scored. So that’s a good thing,” Hedley said.

Hedley expects much the same kind of game in game two, tonight at 7:30 p.m.

“It’s going to be very similar. The speed has got to be there. The intensity, the urgency. We’ve got to play a very good game away from the puck,” he said.

Forward Matthew Rathbone left the game in the third period after taking a high stick to the face, but he returned before the end of the game. Jubenvill also left the game late in the third as a precaution with an upper body injury.

Game three will be in Swan River on Friday, with game four, Monday in Swan River. Both games begin at 7 p.m.

The Dauphin Multi-purpose Senior Centre hosted a fund-raising perogy dinner, Mar. 24, with proceeds going to the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund.

About 135 people, split into two sittings, enjoyed a meal of six perogies, kolbasa, coleslaw, dessert and tea or coffee for $25.

The steel girders for the new strip mall between the Super 8 Motel and Dauphin Co-op Gas Bar arrived and were unloaded, Mar. 21.

Construction of the mall, which is expected to open in the fall, will continue all spring and summer.

Doc Walker headlined Dauphin’s Countryfest Return to the Hill Celebration tour in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd, Friday at the Watson Arts Centre.

With Don Amero opening the show, the tour included stops in Portage, Dauphin, Brandon, Neepawa and Yorkton.

A young Dauphin resident is about to get the chance of a lifetime when the Winnipeg Jets host the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday at Canada Life Centre.

Dauphin’s Mitchell Rauliuk, 13, entered the Next Gen Takeover contest and was recently selected to participate as the JetsTV reporter, where he will be mentored by and work alongside former Dauphin resident Mitchell Clinton.

Rauliuk learned of the contest through an email the team sent to his parents.

“I think my parents have a Visa card through the Winnipeg Jets and they ended up getting Jets mail. One Jets game they just gave their email to them and they send out daily news of the Jets. And it ended up coming up as the Next Gen Takeover,” he explained.

Rauliuk has an interest in broadcasting, having done the Hockey TV play-by-play for the Dauphin Kings and Parkland Rangers.

“That’s what gave me the boost to enter into the contest, because I’ve had a lot of interest in the broadcasting and all that through Dauphin and the Parkland Rangers,” he said.

While Rauliuk will be on JetsTV for the game, other winners will work in other departments, such as PA announcer, TSN 2 host and radio commentator on CJOB. Rauliuk is looking forward to opportunity even though he is not a Jets fan.

“I’m still glad I’m going. I’m pretty excited about it and I hope to go further into that industry,” he said. “What I want to get out of it is just how the main guys do it like Dennis Beyak from Winnipegosis. Just to see how they really do it. It’s not that easy, I know that, for sure,” he said.

“But I want to see just how they work it, because we think TV is just simply just usually putting a tape on and putting it on a TV channel. But there’s way more that goes on behind the stages of that. So it should be fun.”

It was not the start the Parkland Rangers were looking for when they hit the ice for game one of their best-of-five semifinal series with the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Brandon grabbed a 2-0 lead, 1:09 into the game and skated to an 8-1 win.

Callum Halls scored three times and Braden Keeble scored twice and added two assists to lead Brandon to the win.

Nolan Chastko chipped in with a goal and two assists, while Dylan Schrader and Nolan Roberts also scored. Mason Lobreau made 22 saves in the win.

Carter Zalischuk had Parkland’s only goal, which came on a power play. Brenden Birch-Hayden made 28 saves through two periods and Kyler Swanton stopped seven in the third.

Rangers coach Tyler Carefoot said the Rangers failed to minimize their turnovers, which led to the Wheat Kings scoring two goals early.

“We just simply turned the puck over at the blueline, they go down on a two-on-one and we can’t give that team those kinds of chances,” he said, adding the early two-goal deficit took the wind out of Parkland’s sails. “We just couldn’t seem to get right back into it. We lost our intensity, we lost our sandpaper and grit and we were just kind of holding on the rest of the way,” he said.

Brandon, he added, is a team that will capitalize on turnovers and game one was evident of that.

Entering the series, Carefoot talked about the need to say out of the penalty box, something the Rangers failed to do as Brandon scored three times on eight chances with the man advantage.

Twice the Rangers were called for four-minute penalties, which they managed to kill off.

“There were a couple of penalties I didn’t like. There’s two four-minute penalties. When you give a team like that four minutes on the power play, they’re capitalizing,” Carefoot said.

There were parts of the game where the Rangers played well.

“We had some cycles going, getting pucks to the net. It’s just minimizing turnovers and that’s something we’ve got to do a better job of,” Carefoot said.

For game two, the Rangers need to focus on moving the puck a little faster in the offensive zone.

“If you see a guy open, you can’t hesitate. You’ve got to get the puck to the open man and get pucks on net quicker,” Carefoot said. “One of the things I thought they did well was they’re were just so relentless in front of the net, just poking and prodding. Just keep competing until the whistle goes. And I think they scored, for sure, two or three goals that way.”

Despite the game one loss, Carefoot remains confident in his team and feels they can still make a series of it.

“That game for either team, there was no grit or sandpaper. It was like a November game. Both teams were just playing it out,” he said. “Ultimately, we need to tighten up on our turnovers and add far more grit and sandpaper like we had the last series. Factor in not giving them two four-minute power plays.”

Game two is in Dauphin, Friday at 7:30 p.m., with game three in Brandon at 1:30 p.m.

The Dauphin Ladies Bonspiel took place over the weekend at the Dauphin Recreation Complex curling rink, with 24 teams competing.

Melissa MacQuarrie, curling with Kaylee Robinson, Shannon Demeria, Jolene Showdra and Allison Barsewsky, won the first event over Chantel Jersak. Leanne Urbanovitch was third and Leanne Fedak was fourth.

The Tina Toews rink, with Carol Sime, Suzette Crandall, and Candace Devos won the second event, beating Lindsey Kyle. Tiffany Armstrong was third and Courtney VanAlstyne was fourth.

In the third event, Janelle Lach, Hayley Lamb and Camille Lough finished first, beating Betty Caruk. Avery Scott was third and Lois Roazk was fourth.